Nominee wins key Senate support

WASHINGTON — Rex Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO who is President Trump’s pick for secretary of state, has overcome a major hurdle on his way to Senate confirmation.

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who had resisted Tillerson’s appointment, said Sunday they have decided to support his nomination.

“Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests,” the senators said in a joint statement.

They had suggested earlier that Tillerson’s close ties with Putin might disqualify him from the State Department. The Texas-born Tillerson, 64, cut numerous multibilliondollar deals with the Russian government and maintained what he described as a friendly relationship with Putin.

Tillerson opposed sanctions against Russia that Washington and the European Union imposed after Putin seized Crimea in 2014.

In his confirmation hearing Jan. 11 before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Tillerson sought to allay fears of his critics. At least initially, he had tough talk for Russia, saying it had to be considered an adversary. Later, he wavered somewhat on sanctions and whether Russia’s bombings of civilians in Syria should be considered a war crime.

Still, he apparently departed sufficiently from Trump’s unusually magnanimous attitude toward Russia and Putin that McCain and Graham were willing to support him.